Packet network service provider, e.g., a VoIP a network service provider will sometimes enable the use of its network by other service providers, e.g., wholesale customers, via wholesale partnerships. Wholesales arrangements typically involve discounted rates to be offered for specified volumes of traffic, such as a specified amount of call minute usage, which will be carried over the wholesale service provider's network. The wholesale service provider supporting wholesale traffic originating from wholesale customer's network must engineer their networks with enough capacity to support the negotiated call minute usage. Traffic exceeding these projections can lead to service disruptions and impact traffic of other customers supported by the wholesale service provider's network.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for call gapping of wholesale customer traffic in a packet network, e.g., a VoIP network.